Ewe are parted by death ?....
June 13
Not verified yet
Feast
Ewe are parted by death ?.... On every occasion I look for Gerard, as I have been wont, and he is not here. Alas I I groan in my heaviness.
Keep their day. Remember them on June 13 with a short prayer, and ask for their help.
Ewe are parted by death ?.... On every occasion I look for Gerard, as I have been wont, and he is not here. Alas I I groan in my heaviness. I am wretched, a man without his helper. Whom shall I consult in doubt? Whom shall I lean on in adversity? Who will bear my burdens? Did not Gerard's eyes prevent my every step ?.... I mourn over thee, dearest Gerard, not because thou art to be pitied, but because thou art taken away; and therefore I ought perhaps to mourn rather over myselfj because I have to drink the cup of bitterness. O death where is thy victory? O grave where is thy sting? Gerard feared thee not, thou masked phantom. Gerard will pass through thy jaws into his own country, not safe only, but joyous and jubilant I mourn for my own loss, and that of this house. I mourn for the necessities of the poor, to whom Gerard was a father. I mourn for our whole order, which derived no little strength from thy zeal, counsel, and example, Gerard ! I mourn — no not over thee, but for thee, for I love thee very dearly." The historian goes on to describe the peaceful death of Gerard; how on the night in which he died, he began in his bed to sing with exultant voice and serene countenance the psalm, “O praise the Lord of heaven, praise him in the height," Ps. cxlviiL How having finished the psalm, Gerard looking up to heaven, said, “ Father, into Thy hands I commend my spirit 1" and then repeated the words “ Father, Father," and turned his bright face to Bernard and said, u How great is the condescension of ' God to be called the Father of men ! How great the glory of men to become the sons of God, and heirs of God 1" and so fell asleep.
Feast: June 13
One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from Bl. Gerard's story, and a nudge to keep going.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain.
From Sabine Baring-Gould, The Lives of the Saints, new edition in 16 vols. (London: John C. Nimmo, 1897–98); text from the Internet Archive scan (OCR, lightly cleaned; errors possible). Public domain in the United States. Reproduced unedited, except for short bracketed notes in grey that we added to explain names and terms (“S.” is the old abbreviation for Saint). Some history and judgments reflect 19th-century scholarship.